Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware on Wednesday handed the gavel over to his Republican counterpart, Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, after convening a hearing on public health preparedness amid the Ebola outbreak.
The Democrat’s gesture was a nod to Mr. Coburn’s departure from the Senate at end of the year. Mr. Coburn decided in January not to finish out his Senate term, as he deals with a recurrence of cancer.
Another Republican, Rep. James Lankford, won his seat this month and will take over in January.
“I don’t want to chair this hearing today. I want Tom Coburn to chair it,” Mr. Carper said from the dais on Wednesday. “So I’m going to pass tho gavel over to him and put him in charge, and I’m going to try to be a good wingman. All right, Thomas, it’s all yours.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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